Pneumatic water-elevator



(No Model.)

J. E. BACON. PNEUMATIG WATER BLEVATOR.

No, 542,621. Patented July 16, 1895.

JAMES E. BACON, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIAr PNEUMATIC WATER-ELEVATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 542,621, dated July 16, 1895.

Application filed July 5,1894. sena Namens. (Np model.)

T0 @ZZ whom, it may concern: t

Beit known that I, J AMES EDWARD BAooN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rich mond, in the county of Henrico and State of Virginia, have invented an Improvement in Pneumatic lVater-Elevators, of which the following is a specification.

Vater has been elevated from wells by the action of air passing into the bottom of the column of Water aud displacing the water in such a manner that the uptake-column eX- tending to the desired height is not heavier than the column of water in the well itself, and the pipe which conveys the air down to the lower end of the uptake-pipe has usually been of the same size, or nearly so, all the way down, and for this reason it has become necessary to employ a separate reservoir or receiver at or near the surface of the ground in order that the flow of air down the wellpipe maybe as nearly uniform as possible, so as to prevent the reciprocations of the aircompressing piston causing the air to pass out from the upward ejector intermittently or with greater force at one moment than at another.

The object of the present invention is to render the discharge of the air into the uptake-pipe as nearly uniform as possible and without the necessity of employing a receiver above the ground and between the well and the air-compressor.

In carrying out this invention the pipe which leads the air from the air-compressor is passed down into the well and into the upper end of an elongated tubular chamber, from the 'lower part of which the air issues through a nozzle and passes into the uptakepipe to aerate or lighten the column of water so that the same rises to the desired height and flows away.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section of the present improvement. Fig. 2 is a horizontal `section at the line xx. Fig. 3 is a diagram of a modification.

The uptake-pipe B is of any desired character, and the pipe A leads from theair-compressor down into the'well to the top of the elongated chamber C, which is in the form of a tube, and the discharge pipe or nozzle D passes upwardly from the lower end of the chamber C and delivers the air into the uptake-pipe B.

I have shown the uptake-pipe B as' sufficiently large to contain Within it theppe A, and also the elongated tubular chamber C; but Where the size of the well is sufficient the pipe A may pass down outside of the uptakepipe B, and the tubular chamber C may also be outside of the uptake-pipe B, as illustrated in the diagranmFig. 3.

Under all circumstances the air from the compressor reaches the tubular chamber C, and any pulsations of the air cease to be appreciated at the bottom of the tubular cham` ber C in consequence of the length of the same and the air acting similarly to a spring. Hence the How of atmosphere upwardly from the discharge pipeor nozzle D will be sub stantially uninterrupted and uniform, and the action of the same in aerating or lightening the column will be more uniform and reliable than in cases where the pulsations in the air-supply may reach the discharge pipe or nozzle at the bottom of the Well; and this apparatus is cheap to construct, and it is out of the Way and at a point where the atmosphere is confined under the pressure due to the head of water, so that the eflciency of the air in the chamber C as a spring in neutralizing the pulsations of the air-compressor is fully obtained.

It will de observed that the discharge pipe or nozzle D rises to a considerable height within the uptake-pipe. In Fig. l it is represented as coming above the top of the airchamber C. The object of this construction is twofold: First. That the upward discharge of the air in a continuous jet may ll the column of water with. numerous and compara tively small air-bubbles in that portion of the well which only contains the comparatively small air-pipe A, and hence there will be nothing to interfere with the uniform rise of the column of water in the uptake jppe, Whereas any obstruction in the uptake-pipe might tend to detain either the air or the wator and cause the numerous bubbles of air to unite in larger bubbles and interfere with the proper aerating of the whole mass of water.

The second objectin employing a long nozzle D is that aftcrthe well has remained qui- Ico escent the water will pass through the nozzle D, fill the chamber C and the pipe A up to the level of the exterior Water in the well, and when the compressed air is admitted in the pipe A it has to drive down the column of Waterto the lower end of the nozzle D,and in so doing a greater pressure of air than that subsequently required to raise the water is required, because the column of water displaced is higher than the column ot Water above the upper end of the nozzle D. For this reason the superior pressure of air which is required to displace this column escapes suddenly by the nozzle D and acts violently upon the water in the Well, and not only aerates the same and causes it to rise, but acts with sullicientsuddenness to stir up any sedimentor mud that there may be in the well and cause a more perfect flow of the water than would be the case were it not for the violent ebullition, and during the operation of the elevating device, after the same has been started as aforesaid, the pressure required of the airis only suliicient to displace the column of water above the top of the nozzle D, and the jet of air so escaping is purposely caused to be continuous in order that the column of water in the uptake-pipe may be filled, with a very large number of comparativelysmall air-bubbles, which, permcating the eutire column of water, lessens the weight of that column sufficiently to cause it to rise to the point of delivery, and the e'fliciency'of this water-raising apparatus is largely augmented by the fact that the force exerted by the continuously-issuing jet of airis effective in drawing the water at the bottom of the uptake-pipe and in sustaining the column of water above the issuing jet of air, and, the air-bubbles being very numerous and small, break at the surface of the water withoutinterfering with the continuous and uninterrupted flow ofV the water from the dischargeopening.

I claim as my inventionl. In an ejecting apparatus for wells, the combination with the uptake pipe of a long air chamber near the lower end of the uptake pipe, a tube foi-supplying air into such chamber and a pipe open at both ends and extending up from near the lower end of the air chamber into the uptake pipe above such air chamber and delivering a continuous jet of air into the water in the uptake pipe, substantially as specified.

2. Atubularwell lining forming an uptake pipe and having a delivery upper end, in combination with an air forcing pipe a long air chamber Within and near the lower end of the tubular liningand to which the lower end ofthe air forcing pipe is connected and a discharge pipe or nozzle receiving air from the lower part oli the chamber and delivering the same as a continuous jet into the uptake pipe above such air chamber substantially as 65 specilied.

Signed by me this 2d day of July, 189i.

` J. E. BACON.Y Vitnesses:

Guo. T. PINcKNEY, WILLIAM G. MoTT. 

